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Spinal nerve pain

Posted , 6 users are following.

steve1955
steve1955

I am from Australia and had a boating accident whilst being towed on a rubber ski tube and came off it wong leaving me with spinal damage. Can anyone advise what best to do to avoid any further surgery .

I have already had 3 fusions C4-5, C5-6, C6-7 and now MRI is pointing to further fusion of C3-4.

I am now getting many symtems including numbness and pain to my neck LS shoulder, arms, hands, legs to feet and some lower back pain. Sometimes as I go to stand up I am momentarily unsteady on my feet. I have noticed that I sometimes sway back and forth whilst standing at the toilet. 

Hoping someone can help or advise.

 

0 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • michael54457
    michael54457 steve1955

    Posted

    Hi Steve,

    Sorry to hear of your injury.  I can relate to what you are going through, as I had spinal fusion nearly two years ago (T2 - T7) and still suffer from nerve pain, muscle spasms and pins and needles, but the p & n are mainly in my feet.

    I take Pregabalin for nerve pain, and they do work, but I am yet to find anything to stop the p & n , although I had some acupuncture in Thailand where I live and it did seem to ease it for a while. Going back in to have some more acupuncture today actually.

    As I said in another thread anyone who is suffering p & n would be wise to try taking big doses of Vitamin B12.  I suffered from peripheral neurophathy for years, mainly heat and p & n in my feet, and the only way I could get any relief was to take 5,000 mcg of B12 every day.  I used to buy them at places like Coles and Woolworths, when I lived in Australia (originally from QLD) as they were usually cheaper than the pharmacies.

    If you buy them make sure they are 1,000 mcg tablets, not 100 mcg.

    Hopefully you will heal quicker than me but you may have youth on your side which helps. I will be sixty soon.

    Good luck and keep in touch.

     

    • steve1955
      steve1955 michael54457

      Posted

      Thanks Michael

      I will give the B12 a try, I do already take Executive B most days.

      No unfortunately I dont have youth on my side, early 60's in fact.

      Cheers

    • michael54457
      michael54457 steve1955

      Posted

      Google - "vitamin b12 + nerve repair" it's interesting how they connect.

      Executive B are good to take daily but they only have about 100mcg of B12 in them.

      I just got home from having some acupuncture, hope to get some relief myself. Plus we called in to a Buddhist temple and had a chat with a big monk, I'll take all the help I can get.

      Good luck with your recovery.

  • buggsy1000
    buggsy1000 steve1955

    Posted

    Hey Steve

    Firstly sorry to hear about your accident, and your fusions.

    Can you advise what meds you currently take, also where in the world are you as treatment differs.

    I know you said you don't want to have further surgery. However had you considered asking about a spinal cord stimulator.? They place leads on your nerves causing pain and stop the signals and brain going ouch. I had the trial and this was a day case, I was kept awake while they placed the leads in, I was unlucky in that I have lower back and both leg pain, as soon as the device went on my pain in left leg and was about 70% better, but they couldn't do it for the right or back and they think this is down to too much scar tissue. On my course there was a few that had higher pain, shoulders, neck, arms and hands, and this worked so well for them, one has indeed said she now has only 5-10% pain reduction, she's come off many meds. As I said the surgery is minimal it's just getting the leads in the best place, if it works every 4-7 years depending on how much you use device you have to have a small op to remove the battery and put a new one in.

    Any questions just ask mate.

    Wish you well.

    George

    • steve1955
      steve1955 buggsy1000

      Posted

      Thanks George

      I am from Sydney Australia

      I was precribed Lyrica for the nerve pain, however it has a lot of side effects, so I have avoided this one for now, also prescribed Mobix for inflamation and use Voltaren.

      Interesting what you write about the cord simulator , I will mention this to my GP.

      Cheers

      Steve 

    • michael54457
      michael54457 steve1955

      Posted

      Hi Steve,

      Interesting you mention Valtaren, I bought some from a pharmacy in Thailand when I was on a visit here last year and I noticed straight away the pain level dropped a lot.  They were 100mg slow release tablets.

      Asked my doctor in Australia about them and he gave me a prescription for similar tablets that were 50mg.  They did not seem to work as well as the 100mg. tablets.

      I believe they are a  nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory, diclofenac.

      I have been taking Lyrica for two years nearly, have not noticed any apparent side effects as yet.

    • buggsy1000
      buggsy1000 steve1955

      Posted

      Hi Steve

      Lyrica ( pregablin in the UK I think) is a really bad drug, it is meant to help with nerve pain but I had problems with feeling drowsy but the biggest thing was weight gain.

      I think you should ask your GP about CRPS it's called complex regional pain syndrome, if you can get to see a pain specialist and they diagnose you with that, I would say 99% that a spinal cord stimulator is good for you. It's very hard to get on it in the UK and took me about 18 months before I finally got the device trial. It might work different in other places but I had the trial for 2 weeks, wasn't allowed to shower/bath so it was lots of stand up washes and baby wipes.

      Good luck and keep in touch.

      George

      Emis Moderator comment: I have removed the link to spinal cord stimulation as users can easily find the information using a search engine rather than linking to a specific website. If users want the specific link use the Private Message service to exchange.

      http://patient.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/398331-private-messages

    • tanya12082
      tanya12082 michael54457

      Posted

      Hi Michael, I see you have been on Lyria for two years with no

      side effects. I work in the drug field and recent research into

      Lyrica has highlighted some very concerning side effects. I was

      on lyrica after my two spinal fusions which were five months

      apart. Whilst the Lyrica worked great for the nerve pain, it totally

      knocked off my short term memory and it drugged me up so

      much I could not function and I was on 75mg morning and night. I will try and find the research papers and post up for you if you

      are interested.

    • michael54457
      michael54457 tanya12082

      Posted

      Thanks Tanya,  Yes, that would be good.  I have been on them for two years now and although I am not aware of any side effects it worries me to bo taking something like Pregabalen for so long.

      The hospital had me on 450 mg a day and as soon as I was relaesed I cut it back to 225 a day with no difference in the pain level.  I noticed if I went below that number I could tell though, the pain in my back was unreal.

      I have a friend who had lower back surgery about four years ago and he is still on 600 mg a day and I believe he had to see a psychologist at one stage.  I told him to cut back on them but he won't listen to me.

      I might try to cut mine back again soon, down to 75 mg morning and night, see what happens.

      I am also taking 40mg of Baclofen a day for muscle spasms, definitely cannot go lower than that, the muscle pain is out of this world.

      I am going to see a spinal specialist in the PA Hospital in Brisbane next month, will talk to them about my pain and medication.

      Thanks again.

  • Geraldinej
    Geraldinej steve1955

    Posted

    Hi Steve

    Sorry to hear about your accident but would you mind telling me how your recovery from the fusion surgery went? I am in Perth WA did you have your surgery in Australia my friend is due to have c5/6 c6/7 fusion

    kind regards

    geraldine

    • steve1955
      steve1955 Geraldinej

      Posted

      Hi Geraldinej

      Yes I did have my surgery in Sydney late 2007 on c5/6 c6/7 and the recovery was generally about 6 mths, however I was working in an office at the time, so it did depend on how much time I spent on the computer given you keep your neck generally in one place for extended period of time. Then there were manual work times like in the garden that created pain and inflamation but usually Voltaren helped. Then in 2014 I was finished up as work and at 60 found it hard getting another senior role so had no choice but to go back to being a Carpenter after 30 years in management. This led to another fusion c 4/5 after just 12 mths on the tools, The recovery for this one was not as good, But to be fair it may well be because I am still on the tools. I had another MRI almost a year ago and was told to go td the surgeon again, however I am still avoiding further surgery in fear of ending up with a back like a surf board. This of course causes me a lot of pain and now many more issues - refer to my original post that have gotten worse since then.

      I hope this helps ypur friend - can olly suggest he/she takes it easy.

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